Bouygues Telecom picks Ciena for backhaul upgrade

20 June 2017 | James Pearce

Bouygues Telecom has partnered with Ciena to boost the efficiency, scalability and reliability of its current network backhauling and aggregation infrastructure.

The French operator will deploy Ciena’s 6500 Packet-Optical Platform to create a new “SuperCore” network, which will increase capacity up to 400G to support surging capacity demands and new high-bandwidth services.

Bouygues claims the deployment will allow its customers to experience a superior quality of service through its 4G network, whilst also future proofing it for 5G deployments and supporting its ambitions for its fixed and fibre to the home networks.

Jean Paul Arzel, Directeur, Bouygues Telecom, said: “Modernizing our backhauling and aggregation networks in addition to our SuperCore network is a major evolution of our infrastructure, allowing us to better service our customers and manage bandwidth demands as users become even more data-centric in their device use.

“Ciena’s 6500 platform is an essential part of both our physical network and our service delivery strategy. It helps us operate in a more scalable and efficient manner by maximizing the capacity of our fiber and delivering a core network that will support current and future fixed line and mobile broadband demands.”

“The rollout of 5G represents a major opportunity on the horizon, said Virginie Hollebecque, VP for EMEA at Ciena. “Network providers own the delivery of content to users, so they need to ensure they upgrade their networks today to cope with tomorrow's capacity demands and to position them to capitalize on future market potential.

“As one of the top economies in the world and a communications platform pioneer, France influences global strategies for technology investment and communications innovation. By deploying our 6500 platform, Bouygues Telecom is setting a standard for futureproofing carrier networks. Doing so will enable it to continue to offer its customers fast and reliable solutions, now and in the years to come."